


slam dunks and summer smiles

by ydek



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, Fluff, Lab Setting, bonus everyone doting on chaeng, sometimes we just need 2na being the sappiest couple alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-10
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-06-08 07:55:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15238863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ydek/pseuds/ydek
Summary: The Myoui lab receives an unexpected visitor.Or: Mina’s busy, Sana’s on a mission, and Chaeyoung’s really just doing her best.





	slam dunks and summer smiles

The thing about emails, Mina has come to learn, is that the moment you answer one, ten more take its place. And then, by the time you’ve blinked, there are fifty. All urgent, of course. Time sensitive, politeness required, careful reading a must, please get back at your earliest convenience, thank you for your time.

A quick glance at her calendar reminds her of her meeting in an hour. Not to mention the grants she needs to write, papers she needs to check, lectures she needs to prepare…

No one said being the country’s youngest principal investigator of a state-of-the-art research lab at its top university was easy.

She sighs. Gives herself three seconds to rub the tiredness from her eyes. Then, she claps her cheeks resolutely. A familiar voice sounds in her head.

_One step at a time, Minari! Then before you know it — grants granted, papers done, lectures taught, slam dunk._

The flash of a dazzling grin.

_Easy, right?_

Despite it all, a smile begins to pull on Mina’s lips. She looks back at her inbox and gets to work.

-

“Can I… help you?”

Chaeyoung may not have been part of the Myoui lab for that long — well, technically, she’s not even really part of the lab right now, she’s just an undergrad doing summer research and trying her best and hoping Doctor Myoui likes her enough to officially invite her because Doctor Myoui’s great and Chaeyoung really likes this lab and everyone in it and they’re all working on some really cool things that she definitely wants to be involved with — but _anyway_.

So maybe she hasn’t been part of the Myoui lab for that long. But she’s fairly certain that whatever… this… is, isn’t exactly part of the norm for… any lab, probably.

 _This_ being the woman standing right outside the door to the Myoui lab, dressed in far-too-revealing clothing to be a fellow researcher (which is, of course, simply to say, shorts and flip-flops), and also muttering crossly to herself as she hunches over, fiddling with the lock in some transparent attempt to break in.

Chaeyoung supposes that this might be a lot more alarming if the lock wasn’t electronic. And if the woman wasn’t puffing out her cheeks and whining in frustration every few seconds.

In any case, the woman doesn’t seem to have heard Chaeyoung, because she continues her scratching and tapping without an ounce of shame. Chaeyoung just shoves the last of her pizza in her mouth and chews slowly as she watches. 

Finally, after several seconds have passed, the woman leans back and dramatically wipes her spotless brow. She makes a face, stomps her foot, and proclaims, “This is homophobia!”

And it is at that moment that Chaeyoung decides she can trust her.

-

The woman’s name, Chaeyoung learns, is Sana. This is her first time visiting the lab, and she hadn’t known you needed a key card to get in. Her face lights up brilliantly when she sees Chaeyoung’s, and she nearly bowls the student over in her bear hug of gratitude.

Chaeyoung, swallowing back her apprehension at the sudden intimacy, tries to shrug it off. She taps her card against the reader and the doors unlock with a click.

Sana gasps. “Wow! The world is really amazing these days!”

Chaeyoung squints in an exceedingly Gen Z manner. “Hm,” is all she offers in response.

She opens the door and nods for Sana to go ahead. The woman beams, scoops up a bright pink lunchbox that Chaeyoung hadn’t noticed before, and proceeds to skip in.

“So, uh,” Chaeyoung says as she trails behind, “is there anything in particular you’re here for?” It occurs to her that letting in this stranger who had clearly been trying to break in might not have been the best idea. Less so for malicious intent and more because Sana just doesn’t seem to have any actual awareness of where she is.

“Yes!” Sana ends up saying, though, turning to her again with that sun-like smile. She cradles the lunchbox in her arms as she speaks. “I’m looking for someone, actually. Maybe you can help me?”

Chaeyoung nods. She at least knows everyone’s name in the lab so this shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

What she misses is the glint in Sana’s eye, the way her mouth twists in what would be a blaring signal to anyone who knows her. Poor, oblivious Chaeyoung just tilts her head and gestures for the visitor to go on.

Sana bats her lashes and crosses her feet and says in the most innocent tone she can muster, “Could you please take me to the most beautiful woman in the world?”

-

Mina’s stomach growls just as she hits _send_ on the last of the most important emails. She sighs quietly as she looks at her clock — only fifteen minutes left until her meeting. Certainly not enough time to find lunch outside, but maybe she can scrounge for something in the break room.

Getting to her feet, she thinks back to the lunch she’d prepared just that morning in lieu of eating breakfast. It’s probably still sitting lonely and forgotten on the kitchen island. She shakes her head. It’s unlike her to be so distracted as to forget something, but work has only been getting busier and busier as of late. On average, she doesn’t even get home until her watch’s hour hand is well into the double digits, and she wakes up with the sun on top of that. 

A pang of guilt hits her as she considers this. She tries not to think about it too much for now.

“Mina.” Her secretary looks up in slight surprise as she exits her office. “Are you going out now? The candidate should be here soon.”

Mina smiles. “I’m just going to the break room. I won’t be too long.”

Jeongyeon’s eyes light in understanding and she hums her acknowledgement. “Take your time then. If she shows up before you’re back I’ll go ahead and let her in first.”

“That’d be great. Thank you, Jeongyeon.”

With that, Mina enters the hallway, lifting her arms above her head for a much-needed stretch. Chin up, Myoui. You still have the rest of the day ahead of you.

-

Chaeyoung shuffles her feet.

Tzuyu stares blankly.

Sana is absolutely fawning over the young technician.

“Not who I had in mind, but Chaeyoungie, I gotta say, you have great taste!”

Sana reaches over to touch Tzuyu’s hair; Tzuyu leans away ever so subtly.

“Sorry, Tzu.” Chaeyoung tries her best to express her guilt and apology through puppy-dog eyes. “I, uh… panicked, I guess.”

Tzuyu regards her for a long, painstaking moment before shrugging and replying, “You’re okay.” It lifts a whole world of weight off of Chaeyoung’s shoulders, despite the fact that Tzuyu had used the same monotone she did with everyone else in the lab. Tzuyu then turns to Sana, who is still gushing over her, and asks blankly, “Do I know you?”

“I’m Sana,” the other woman says in her ever-cheerful tone. She seems to ignore the fact that this did next to nothing to answer Tzuyu’s question. “Tzuyu, was it? My gosh, you really are so pretty.”

“Hmm,” Tzuyu replies.

“But,” Sana smiles apologetically, “I’m afraid you’re not quite who I’m looking for.”

Tzuyu’s face screams that she couldn’t care less.

Sana turns back to Chaeyoung. “Let me repeat myself. The most beautiful woman _in the world_ , I said.” She speaks her words slowly, as though that makes any difference at all. 

Chaeyoung looks at Tzuyu. Tzuyu blinks (and it seems kind of sympathetic?) and then turns back to her desktop.

Sana’s still going. “She’s also the prettiest, cutest, kindest, smartest, most dedicated, most wonderful, most amazing—.”

“Uh… right.” Chaeyoung wonders vaguely how and why she got caught up in this whole thing. “Most… everything woman in the world. Coming right up.”

-

There’s a half-eaten bag of chips lying on the counter of the break room, which will just have to do for now, Mina supposes. She’s just tossed back a handful when her lab manager walks in, yawning loudly.

Jihyo raises an eyebrow at the sight of her P.I scarfing down an unmarked bag. “Oh? Miss Myoui, Miss Myoui, stealing food now, are we?”

“That’s Doctor Myoui to you,” Mina returns. She offers the bag to Jihyo, who smiles graciously and reaches in.

In the back of Mina’s head, she wonders if she’s maybe a little too relaxed with the members of her lab. Then again, she’d never liked the idea of lording her title and authority over others. All the better if everyone can speak comfortably with each other, she thinks. And besides — this is Jihyo.

“So,” Jihyo says as she makes her way to the communal fridge. Her tone is friendly; Mina can already tell where this is going. “You’re going to tell me honestly and truthfully that that isn’t your entire lunch, right?” she prompts over her shoulder.

Mina’s tight-lipped smile is all the answer she needs.

Jihyo frowns and turns around fully, hands on her hips. “You shouldn’t do this to yourself, Mina. You’re already working yourself to the bone as is.”

“It’s just for today—.”

“That’s what you said in college, and then you collapsed!”

Mina waves a hand. “Sometimes it can’t be helped.”

Jihyo groans in exasperation. “Myoui, I swear….”

“Things are busy right now,” Mina reminds her gently. “We both know it. I’ll just eat a good dinner tonight, so there’s no need to worry. But thank you for your concern.” Her eyes are soft. “Really, Jihyo, I appreciate it.”

“Mm-hm.” Jihyo looks anything but convinced. She pauses, and Mina turns her attention back to the chips, just so she won’t have to see the worry on her friend’s face. Then Jihyo leans in conspiratorially and asks in a low voice, “Am I going to have to tell your woman to take better care of you?”

Mina stills. Jihyo looks up. Her eyes narrow at the shadow of regret that flickers on Mina’s face.

 _I should be taking better care of her,_ is what Mina wants to say. Before she can, though, a shrill scream sounds from the other end of the hallway. Then, an impossibly-familiar high-pitched whine. And finally, the unmistakable cry of a long-suffering undergrad.

She and Jihyo exchange a single wide-eyed look before they both hurry to where the commotion is.

-

“Nayeon, just leave it alone,” Chaeyoung pleads, tugging at the postdoc’s arm in vain.

Nayeon orders, “Stand down, Chaengie.” Then, pointing aggressively at a bewildered Sana, she declares, “More so than saying my baby was _wrong_ in any way, what I absolutely can’t forgive is the implication that I’m _not_ the most beautiful woman in the world.”

“You are to me, Nayeon,” Momo proudly informs her.

“Chaeng took her to Tzuyu first, anyway,” Dahyun quips.

Chaeyoung makes eye contact with the graduate student and mimes a neck-cutting motion with her hand. Dahyun sends her a finger heart in return.

“I didn’t mean any offense.” Sana sounds more puzzled than scared, which, fair enough, but still. She continues in a sincere voice, “Honestly, you’re all gorgeous. If I wasn’t taken, I’d _definitely_ tap, like, all of you.”

Chaeyoung’s face contorts. “Hang on, you’d _what_?”

“Oh my god, Chaeyoung, you brought a pervert into our lab,” Nayeon says in horror. She turns to her benchmate with a dramatic gasp. Momo just blinks.

Sana tries to backpedal. “Okay, wait, you know what I meant.”

“I really don’t,” Chaeyoung retorts.

Sana opens her mouth, probably to dig herself an even deeper hole, when a stunned voice behind her calls her name. Immediately, she whips around with such excitement Chaeyoung could swear she saw a tail wagging.

“Minari!” Sana squeals.

 _Mina_ what _?_ Chaeyoung thinks.

In a flash, Sana is at none other than their boss’ side, engulfing the smaller girl in a hug that almost seems to suffocate the life out of her. Mina struggles feebly, but it’s easy to tell how happy she is despite her surprise, if her ill-hidden smile is any indication.

Next to them, Jihyo watches in faint amusement. When she sees Chaeyoung staring, she catches her eye and winks.

Chaeyoung’s jaw drops.

 -

“Hello, most beautiful woman in this world and the next and all the ones to come,” Sana sings once she’s stepped back. She looks at Mina adoringly, smiling even bigger when she sees Mina failing to keep her own grin off her face.

“Hi, Sana,” Mina greets her back softly. Her very voice is ambrosia. Sana nearly swoons.

In the background, she thinks she hears Jihyo whispering something to Chaeyoung. Cute as the flustered little student is, though, she’s the last thing on Sana’s mind right now. She shuffles closer to Mina, just a bit, and a pleasant warmth spreads all the way to her toes when she finds Mina leaning in to her in response.

“I missed you,” Sana tells her.

“We saw each other this morning.”

“Barely. You’re always in a rush, lately.”

Sana instantly wishes her words didn’t sound as accusing as they did, because now Mina’s pulling away with an apology on her lips and regret in her eyes, and it was the last thing Sana meant for, honest, it wasn’t supposed to come out that way at all.

She grasps Mina’s hands before the other girl can get any further away. “You’re always in a rush,” she says, “and I’m worried you’re not taking care of yourself.” Mina looks hesitant. Sana quirks her lips. “You even forgot your lunch today, you know?” she adds in a quiet voice.

“She sure did,” Jihyo’s voice calls dryly before Mina has a chance to respond.

“So that’s what that’s for,” Chaeyoung mutters soon after.

It’s then that Mina’s gaze flickers to Nayeon’s bench, and her eyes widen when she spots the hot pink lunchbox sitting there, sealed and waiting patiently. She turns back to Sana, who is still gazing at her with all the affection in the world.

It’s a little embarrassing. Mina bites her lip.

“You took time out of your lunch break just to bring that to me?” When Sana nods, she protests, “Your work isn’t even that close to here.”

“Well, I can’t just let my girlfriend starve, can I?”

“I could’ve just gone out to buy something.”

“But you didn’t.” Sana looks at her triumphantly. “Because I know you, Minari. You won’t rest until all those grants are granted, papers done, lectures taught, slam dunk. Right?”

Her eyes are sparkling; Mina’s lost count of how many times she’s forgotten how to breathe since she met the other girl.

“You work so hard all the time,” Sana continues, “and I know it’s important, I know how much it matters not just to you but to, you know, science and medicine and making sure people all over the world are okay and all, but… I want you to be okay, too.” She runs her thumb gently over Mina’s knuckles, back and forth, soothingly. “At least to eat your meals. You can’t save the world on an empty stomach, silly.”

There’s something in Mina’s throat that makes it hard to talk for some reason. She has to nod instead. She wants to say something, anything, to assuage Sana’s worries, to return Sana’s love. But the words won’t come, and her stomach is in knots.

In the end, all she can do is focus on making sure her heart doesn’t burst.

Maybe Sana still gets it, though, because she tilts her head and giggles (it’s the sound of songbirds and sweetness) and then she pulls Mina in for another hug.

-

The Myoui lab members, who had been observing this interaction from the sidelines, abruptly break their silence when Momo suddenly exclaims, “Wait, Mina has a girlfriend? Like a serious one?”

Dahyun replies, “Guess so.”

Nayeon scrunches her face. “How does someone like _her_ get someone like Myoui Mina?”

“Hey, don’t be like that,” Jihyo chides. “Sana’s sweet. She can be a lot, sometimes… most of the time… arguably all the time. But anyway, she’s sweet.”

Nayeon looks unconvinced. “Sure.” A brief pause. Then she whips her head to look at Jihyo. “Wait, you _knew_?”

“Perhaps.”

“And you never thought to tell us?”

Jihyo’s smile is entirely too smug. “Well, you guys never asked.” She laughs when Nayeon slaps her shoulder. “I mean, you know how Mina is. She doesn’t like advertising her personal life, let alone her relationships, so I didn’t think I should, either.”

“Aren’t you chivalrous,” Momo comments.

At the same time, Dahyun says overenthusiastically, “Wow, that’s really nice of you!”

“… You guys trying to say something here?”

While the others are chattering away, Chaeyoung continues to eye the young couple. Doctor Myoui is hiding her face in the crook of Sana’s neck, and her arms are wrapped tightly around the other woman’s body. It’s a striking difference from the calm and confident scientist Chaeyoung had grown accustomed to seeing every day.

“I’ve never seen her look so… vulnerable,” she murmurs.

“No?” Momo glances over, and Chaeyoung internally winces when she realizes she’d spoken louder than she’d intended to. Nonetheless, the older woman just looks more thoughtful than anything. “Mitang’s a pretty soft soul, though,” she muses.

Nayeon shrugs. “Chaeng just hasn’t been here long enough.” Turning to Chaeyoung, she explains, “Mina’s a great scientist — I mean, you’ve gotta be to get to where she is at her age, right? But she’s delicate, too. It may not seem like it at first, and honestly she’s been getting better about it lately, but even our PI needs some taking care of once in a while.”

“It’s also why both independence and good teamwork are valued so highly here,” Jihyo adds with a knowing look at the student. “You need to be able to carry your own weight so you don’t add any more burden to Mina, but you shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help to get things done more efficiently, either.”

It makes sense. Chaeyoung nods slowly.

“But really, here I was worrying over her all this time and she never even told me she had a girlfriend all along,” Nayeon grumbles.

Dahyun wiggles her eyebrows. “What, you jealous?”

Nayeon glares. “Don’t even start.”

“I don’t blame you, Nayeonnie!” Sana pipes up just then, and everyone jumps. She and Mina seem to have finished their moment and come to join the others. They’re holding hands. Sana looks like she’s about to burst with pride. “Anyone would be jealous if it was my Minari on the line.” She doesn’t even sound arrogant — just besotted.

Perhaps that’s why Nayeon doesn’t respond, opting to simply roll her eyes instead. Mina, with a light blush on her cheeks, offers Nayeon a shy, apologetic smile, which the postdoc waves off good-naturedly.

Mina turns to address the rest of the group. “I’m sorry for the trouble Sana caused to you all. She should know better than to distract people at work.” She casts a stern eye to Sana, who still doesn’t have the grace to look ashamed. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“Oh, for sure. You know, everyone in your lab is serving _looks_ ,” Sana tells her. Mina stares. Sana grins goofily. “You’re still the prettiest, of course, but my, oh my. Doctor Myoui, you sure know what’s up, huh?”

“Stop that. Everyone here is here on account of their merit and skill,” Mina asserts. Her firm tone is familiar to Chaeyoung’s ears, but not the soft giggle that follows.

She really isn’t used to Mina’s joking side.

Chaeyoung smiles, mostly because she doesn’t know what else to do. Then she stiffens when she realizes Mina is looking at her.

“Come to think of it,” her boss says, “Chaeyoung, would you please meet me in my office before you head out for the day? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“Ooh, someone’s in trouble,” Momo calls out. She stops abruptly when Mina switches her gaze to her. “Sorry.”

Chaeyoung swallows. Dahyun sniggers and elbows her. Chaeyoung elbows her back. Mina raises her eyebrows.

“Of course, it’s not a problem at all,” Chaeyoung hurriedly responds. She smiles when Mina nods. Then she catches Sana looking at her and makes a face. “What?”

“Chaeyoungie never spoke so formally to me,” Sana teases. “Mina, are you scaring the kid?”

“It’s called being professional,” Mina shoots back. “Speaking of which,” she checks the time on her watch, “I have a meeting I’m late for.” She looks back at Sana, and her face softens once again when she sees the pout on her girlfriend’s face. “Oh, don’t give me that look.”

“What look?” Sana sticks out her bottom lip even further. “I’m not giving you any look.”

Mina just laughs, and her eyes are filled with fondness. “Sure you aren’t.” She steps closer, tugs Sana’s hand lightly. She tilts her head to the side just a bit. “Walk me to my office?” she asks.

Never has there been a faster “yes” in the history of the universe.

-

“Okay, I guess she’s not a pervert,” Nayeon admits once the couple is gone. “Just _insanely_ whipped.”

-

“Why is your office so close to the lab,” Sana complains. They’ve approached the room all too soon, and she instinctively tightens her hold on Mina’s hand. “It’s lame.”

Mina hums. “It’s convenient. Besides, you need to get back to work soon, don’t you?”

Sana shrugs. “Maybe.”

“You do.” Mina comes to a halt and turns to her girlfriend. “So be safe on your way back. And no more distracting my lab, okay?” She reaches up to pat Sana’s cheek; Sana looks at her as though she holds the whole galaxy in her eyes.

“I’ll see you tonight?” Sana asks.

“Of course.”

“And you’ll eat your lunch?”

“Right after my meeting.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

“ _Promise_ promise?”

Mina holds out her pinky. Sana brightens at the sight and immediately latches on to it with her own. Their eyes meet, and, just as it’s been since the day they first saw each other, neither wants to look away.

They stay like that, just looking at each other, for seconds that feel like eternity, and Mina thinks, not for the first time, that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to just cancel her schedule for the rest of the day, to go home early with the girl she knows she doesn’t deserve but is trying her very hardest to. Sana might have read her mind, though, as she tends to do, because she ends up being the first to lower their hands, reluctantly but firmly.

“I’ll stop distracting you,” she says in a gentle voice. “You’ve got important things to do. And the sooner you’re done with them, the sooner you’ll eat, and the sooner you’ll come home, right?”

“That’s true,” Mina agrees, although she still doesn’t move.

Sana laughs at that and spins Mina around herself, giving her a light shove towards her office. “Okay, then get going already. And people say _I’m_ the whipped one, huh?”

Mina bites back a smile, turns her head to wave over shoulder. Sana raises both her arms to wave back.

“I’ll see you later, Sana. And thank you.”

“Hey, what’s with the formality? It’s just me, you know.” Sana winks. “Have fun saving the world. See you tonight, doctor.”

Mina walks back past Jeongyeon’s desk with a lighter heart than when she’d left. The door to her office is closed, and undoubtedly the latest candidate for a position in her lab is waiting inside for their meeting. Mina pauses to take a moment to collect herself.

Then she realizes she'd forgotten something.

-

Sana had just begun walking away when she heard the call behind her.

“Sana, wait!”

She turns around in confusion. There's a question on the tip of her tongue, and her lips are already forming words. Before she realizes it, though, her girlfriend's beat her to it.

In a flash, Mina has closed the distance between the two of them, their hands, their bodies, their faces, until she meets Sana in a sweet, determined kiss.

Sana’s brain crashes.

Then, just as quickly as she’d approached, Mina pulls back. She grins when Sana nearly falls forward trying to chase her lips. “Okay, that was it, bye for real.” Her words come out in one rushed breath. Sana’s barely registered it all by the time Mina disappears around the corner again.

She’s left alone in the hallway once more, still leaning down, wearing the dumbest smile in the world, eyes reflecting her entire world.

-

On their way to the break room, Momo casts a concerned glance at the motionless woman. “Does she, like… need help?”

Nayeon barely even looks over. “A lot of it, to be honest.”

-

It’s almost seven when Chaeyoung approaches the office. Jeongyeon, in the middle of packing up, lifts her head and greets her cheerfully.

“Don’t see you in these parts too often,” the secretary says in an amicable voice.

Chaeyoung smiles back, trying to quell her nervousness. “Doctor Myoui asked me to stop by before I leave. I don’t know what for, though.”

“Oh, I see.” There’s a knowing look in Jeongyeon’s eye, but she just nods at the door and says, “Go ahead then, she should be free right now.”

The door is half open already, but Chaeyoung still knocks before poking her head in. Doctor Myoui is seated at her desk, staring intently at a packet of papers in front of her. The pink lunchbox is resting near her, open now but clearly empty. Instead of looking up, Mina continues to spin a pen in her fingers smoothly, using it every once in a while to mark something or other. There’s no indication of any sort that she’d heard Chaeyoung.

Chaeyoung knocks again and clears her throat. This time, Mina looks up. Her eyebrows raise slightly at the sight of the sheepish undergraduate.

“Oh, hello. I’m sorry, were you waiting long?” She gestures at the chairs placed across her desk. “Take a seat. I’ll just finish this page and then we can talk.”

“No rush,” Chaeyoung replies. As she makes her way over, she wonders if she’d spoken too casually. The Myoui lab is known for its informality, though, so she thinks it might be okay. But then again, she _is_ just a summer student, so it isn’t as though she’s really part of the Myoui lab officially. But then _again_ —.

“Nayeon tells me that you were the one who had to deal with Sana from the start,” Mina says suddenly. She circles one last section on her paper and then caps her pen and sets it down. Her gaze is cool as she looks at Chaeyoung, and her tone doesn’t betray anything save for the slightest hint of polite curiosity.

It’s the usual Doctor Myoui, but now Chaeyoung can’t help but wonder where the shy, lovestruck girl from earlier went.

Still, she nods her affirmation, clarifying, “I met her outside the lab. She couldn’t figure out how to get in, and it seemed like she needed something kind of urgent, so I thought I’d help her.”

The corner of Mina’s mouth quirks up wryly. “And how that’d turn out for you?”

“Uh….” Chaeyoung squints. “She’s certainly… a person.”

It’s _the_ stupidest thing she could have said.

Her jaw drops and she desperately tries to explain. “Not like in a bad way, of course, but just—.”

“No, she gets that a lot,” Mina says dismissively. She regards Chaeyoung for a moment, and the undergrad realizes that her eyes look kinder now, the same way they were a few hours ago, around her girlfriend and the rest of the lab. Mina continues, “In any case, I’d like to thank you for letting her in and taking care of her despite the trouble she caused you and the others. I know she was just a stranger to you, but I still appreciate it.”

“Oh.” Chaeyoung isn’t entirely sure how to respond. “No, I mean, she wasn’t that much trouble. She’s actually kind of fun — I mean, I’m sure she’s a lot of fun, especially when she’s with you — but like, not in a weird way or anything — uhh, but not that I was thinking about it in a weird way to begin with? Jesus Christ.”

Chaeyoung accepts that without a doubt she will not be invited back to the Myoui lab after this summer. 

But Mina starts laughing, a genuine, open-mouthed one that she doesn’t hide behind her hand. Her smile stretches wider and beams brighter than Chaeyoung’s ever seen on her, and she finds herself thinking, maybe Mina and Sana have more in common than she’d realized.

“You know, everyone says you’re doing good work,” Mina tells her warmly, as though she’d seen through Chaeyoung’s fears. “Dahyun and even Tzuyu are both much livelier since you’ve come. And I’ve never seen Nayeon grow so attached to a new lab member so quickly before. Jihyo only has positive things to say about your work, too. So you don’t have to worry.”

The tension in Chaeyoung’s shoulders fades away at the same moment she realizes it was even there. She lets out a slow breath and nods, trying not to show how pleased she is to hear that the lab members truly do like her just as much as she likes them.

“You’re doing well. Keep it up, Chaeyoung.” Mina’s words are simple, but her eyes are encouraging, and her voice carries a quiet sort of pride.

Chaeyoung wonders for a moment if it means what she thinks it means. She feels it does, or at least that there’s more of a possibility for it. Before she realizes it, she’s grinning toothily; Mina looks satisfied at the sight.

“That’s all I have to say, so I won’t keep you any longer,” her boss says then, with an air of finality.

Chaeyoung understands her cue. “Thank you, Doctor Myoui.” She gets up to leave, but to her surprise, Mina actually grimaces for a moment at her words.

“I’m sure you’ve noticed by now, but people here only call me that when they’re teasing me. You don’t have to be so formal.” Mina nods once, as if confirming something to herself as well. “You’re part of this lab, too. Mina’s just fine.”

And with that she turns to pack her things.

-

“Ohhh, Son Chaeyoung! We knew you could do it!”

Despite herself, Chaeyoung is grinning like an idiot, and her cheeks start to hurt even more when Dahyun whoops and leaps out of her chair to grab Chaeyoung’s outstretched hand and engage in their convoluted handshake.

“Congratulations,” Tzuyu chimes in, too. Her voice is mild as ever, but she’s smiling a little, so Chaeyoung still counts it as a victory.

The rest of the lab begins to make their way over, most of them already close to finishing for the day anyway. Jihyo ruffles Chaeyoung’s hair as Momo wraps her arms tightly around the student. Nayeon claims loudly that she most certainly would have fought Mina if the meeting had had any other outcome. Even Jeongyeon stops by to give Chaeyoung a fist bump before leaving.

Mina passes by the festivities quietly, unnoticed thanks to everyone’s attention focusing on their newest official member. She hears the cheers, though, and the genuine happiness, and she smiles to herself as she walks.

No one said being the country’s youngest principal investigator of a state-of-the-art research lab in its top university was easy. But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

-

“Do my eyes dare deceive me? Who is this who has walked through my front door when there’s still light in the sky? Fair traveler, are you lost, mayhaps?”

Mina rolls her eyes as she takes off her shoes. Sana evidently isn’t done yet.

“Ah, but her beauty! It blinds me! Could it truly be? An angel sent from heaven above?”

“You’re so embarrassing,” Mina complains. Her smile is bashful, though, and she readily accepts Sana’s welcoming hug.

“You’re home really early,” Sana responds, voice muffled by Mina’s hair. She pulls back suddenly, eyes searching Mina’s face as though looking to find what’s wrong. “Is everything okay? You’re not sick, are you? You seemed fine earlier…  If you’re tired, I can make some soup and you can go lie down — I’ll bring it to you later. Unless you’d rather just rest? Or—”

Sana continues to babble, and a surge of something a little like love starts to fill Mina’s heart; she can feel it spilling into every inch of her existence, a feeling like she really was born just to meet Sana and have her by her side.

“No, it’s okay. I’m okay,” she cuts her off, rubbing Sana’s arm reassuringly. Despite the softness of her voice, Sana hears her (she always does) and immediately quiets down. Mina drops her gaze, fiddles with the hem of Sana’s shirt. “I just wanted to see you,” she admits.

As soon as the words leave her mouth, the concern on Sana’s face transforms into sheer joy, complete with a summer smile and fireworks in her eyes. Mina soaks it in, scarcely breathing, and reflects for the millionth time that she doesn’t understand how Sana can possibly keep calling her the world’s most beautiful when this sight exists.

“Really? So you finished all your work?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“Is that okay, though?” Sana seems like she’s trying to sound more worried or chiding, but she’s obviously much too excited to pull it off.

Mina thinks about the grants that still need writing and the presentations that still need making; lab projects she needs to check on and articles she needs to review. It would have been good to make more headway on them today.

Logically, she knows this.

Logically, anyone would struggle to finish it all, even with the extra hours at work she’d just abandoned.

Still, she takes one look at the hopeful face before her and says, “It’s okay. Besides, someone told me once that it’s better to take these things one step at a time. Then, before I know it — slam dunk. Right?” She holds Sana’s hands and she smiles her biggest smile. “Tonight, I’m only yours.”

There's no doubt in her mind that the way Sana looks at her in that moment is worth infinitely more than her dreams and realities combined.

Once in a while, she decides, it’s okay to defy logic. Especially if it means getting to spend more time with this girl in front of her, the definition of love, the place where the sun and moon meet — the most beautiful woman in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> u can tell this is self-indulgent because it's just 2na loving each other and chaeyoung not rly doing anything but still taking up half the fic
> 
> catch me on twitter @chaengsta for an abundance of twice loving


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